Modernist Mac and cheese

[garak112]

I love Mac and cheese, it is the ultimate in comfort food and I have always looked for ways to improve it.

Someone mentioned the modernist method so I dutifully went on amazon and ordered the special ingredient, sodium citrate, and set about making it.

The outcome was disappointing. The flavour was much better than a roux method and tasted far cheesier with less cheese but, and this is a big but, the texture was all wrong (far too claggy). In addition it doesn't stay sauce like for long enough and will start solidifying as it cools.

I've tried a couple of different recipes using milk, water and a combination of both to no avail. Does anyone have any tricks before I go back to the normal method?

 

[Scottland]

I've tried the sodium citrate method, when baked we didn't like it. But as a more traditional pasta sauce mixed in with cooked pasta we really like it, a little cream and butted mixed in at the end is usually enough to keep it wet when it starts to cool.

 

[glitch]

I've eaten both, I've made both and I enjoy both; they have their differences and in many ways the modernist method is more finicky to get right. I think that flavour-wise they can be very different and this comes down to a point you make about texture.

Texture, for me, is the most important thing in cooking. There aren't a lot of things that I don't like the taste of, but there are plenty of things that I can't handle the texture of - sometimes that can be the exact same ingredient, prepared and/or cooked in different ways. I focus a lot on texture, whether I'm cooking or just eating and it has surprised me just how much influence it has.

With the modernist approach to mac and cheese, texture plays a huge part. I don't think it works particularly well for people who haven't grown up eating Kraft mac and cheese or similar - we're just not used to that texture and have nothing to associate the flavour with.

Give the modernist version to someone who knows Kraft-style mac and cheese and they'll usually be blown away. Their brain is telling them to expect a flavour they readily associate with that texture, but they get something different and the experience of eating it benefits from that. Well, assuming you've got the flavour in there to back it up.

I think we're so used to the roux-based method of making mac and cheese that you have to work a lot harder with the modernist version to have the same effect. But it can be done and it's all down to the texture.

There's a very good article over on Serious Eats by Daniel Gritzer about getting the best from both methods - worth a read if you haven't already taken cues from it.

 

[FrenchTart]

I completely agree with you regarding texture and that's a really good point about food in general. There's plenty of flavours I'm not a fan of but the wrong texture often makes food close to inedible. Traditionally mac and cheese has always been something I'm not a huge fan of and actually the only time I've *really* liked it is when a friend made the BBQ Pit Boys version and accidentally massively overcooked it, really drying it out. It was delicious

 

[jpaul]

SE article interesting for sauce instructions - but final dish pictures looks dry - not enough sauce - a USA variant ?
sauce also needs to be captured inside/around larger penne pasta (recently tried buckwheat/spelt ) I am not convinced Mr Macaroni was making mac&cheese ?

texture issues I have - making sure oven/grilling phase does not end with over-cooked pasta or too evaporated sauce (even though i undercook pasta before mixing-in.)

also - have to see if sodium citrate sauce re-heats(steaming) to same texture ?,
since often over-ambitious in pasta&sauce ingredients quantity - bechemelle does.

 

[FrenchTart]

Sodium citrate-based cheese sauces are meant to reheat very well. It's essentially what is used to make the kind of cheese slices you have on burgers. There's a few recipes on ChefSteps for making "burger cheese" out of proper cheeses that look interesting.

 

[beh]

Thickens quite well with just the starch from the pasta. Using white wine or something else acidic is a useful addition to keep the sauce smooth. Having enough sauce is the hardest thing to judge, always surprises me how much gets absorbed.

 

[WillyNelson]

Tips for the best 'saucy' mac'n'cheese:

Small teaspoon (maybe 1/2) of Coleman's English mustard powder stirred into the sauce (classic roux sauce). Sauce not too thick. Plenty of strong cheddar and some Parmesan stirred into finished sauce once it's off the heat. Stir generously through freshly cooked macaroni & fire under a VERY hot grill to crisp the top.

 

[Spuj]

Not sure if I want to brave the Sodium Citrate method just yet but I do really like the sound of buttery panko breadcrumbs on top. Might have to give that a go sometime soon.

 

[Illgresi]

Never tried it, but I like the look of that Sodium Citrate method for someething like Nacho cheese. Certainly not convinced it would even come close to a well made Mornay though.

 

[Merlin5]

I'm going to make macaroni cheese this weekend, haven't made it for a while. I'm the one that people call a phillistine for adding tomatoes

When making the roux I use plain flour. However, I only have self raising flour in the cupboard at the moment. Could I use that?

 

[f00b4r]

If using modernist ingredients ensure that you are using decent scales as well, I once saw a blogger wonder why a Heston recipe for his onion sauce kept setting but they used a teaspoon to measure out what was meant to be a small fraction of a gram.

 

[Dave]

I've never tried the sodium citrate method, but we've found a nice balanced sauce from the Ramsay recipe - milk, plain flour, unsalted butter, cheese (Lancashire, Cheshire, Mozzarella mix), crushed mustard seeds, pinch of Cayenne Pepper and salt/pepper. Gives a nice silky sauce that clings well to the pasta!

 

[oli collett]

Bit confused why texture would be an issue when making with sodium citrate/cheese/liquid, you can make a sauce with pretty much any consistency you like, from a thin fondue style to a basic solid when warm by changing ratios.

I've got a spreadsheet on my laptop that you can use to get the ratio you want, I would share it if i could figure out how, but there's probably already a google version online somewhere. Either way, the formula it uses is
sodium citrate quantity (g) = (Mass of cheese + mass of liquid)*0.028

Texture wise you would use a mass of liquid at:
20% = cheese slice
30% = very thick but flowing when warm
100% = roughly a normal mac & cheese sauce
110% = fondue
200% = very thin

 

[FrenchTart]

Bit confused why texture would be an issue when making with sodium citrate/cheese/liquid, you can make a sauce with pretty much any consistency you like, from a thin fondue style to a basic solid when warm by changing ratios.

I've got a spreadsheet on my laptop that you can use to get the ratio you want, I would share it if i could figure out how, but there's probably already a google version online somewhere. Either way, the formula it uses is
sodium citrate quantity (g) = (Mass of cheese + mass of liquid)*0.028

Texture wise you would use a mass of liquid at:
20% = cheese slice
30% = very thick but flowing when warm
100% = roughly a normal mac & cheese sauce
110% = fondue
200% = very thin

Presumably the lack of flour would alter the texture/consistency? Not to mention that presumably the fat content of the butter (and cheese) also has an impact so those ratios whilst probably great as a rough guide would need to be altered a little.

I'm talking from a fairly ignorant viewpoint though as I've not got round to trying modernist mac and cheese.

 

[oli collett]

Presumably the lack of flour would alter the texture/consistency? Not to mention that presumably the fat content of the butter (and cheese) also has an impact so those ratios whilst probably great as a rough guide would need to be altered a little.

I'm talking from a fairly ignorant viewpoint though as I've not got round to trying modernist mac and cheese.

Yeah fat content will of course change the consistency, but most of the reason for going down the modernist route is to avoid using flour because it doesn't add anything - unless you like the grainier texture i guess!

I suspect it's more to do with comparing apples to oranges. There's so many possible variables you can introduce that will alter things so one version of 'modernist mac n cheese' might not be anything like someone else's idea of it.

 

[FrenchTart]

Yup, that sounds like it makes sense

 

[jpaul]

production line of pasta batch for next weeks mac & cheese

type 00, egg, pinch of salt
put the mix in the food processor for initial mixing before kneeding,chilling, but TBO should have mixed up on board as I usually do (less wash up, better hydration control)
The pasta is delicate despite drying out in the fridge so have to take care when mixing with sauce

 

[Merlin5]

Since there's a Mac 'n Cheese thread going, I will add that I 100% agree with garak, it's the ultimate in comfort food. And boy oh boy did I make a great one tonight! I didn't do the modernist way. I made a standard roux with 20g butter, 20g flour, 250g cheddar, a large pinch of black pepper, salt, and a couple of teaspoons of powdered Coleman's mustard that I mixed up with water beforehand. Added two diced up tomatoes. Poured 350g of boiled macaroni into it. Poured into a buttered dish, put a ton more cheese on top, a load of breadcrumbs, (overdid the breadcrumbs tbh) and baked. I have to say, this is a Macaroni Cheese to die for, it's so delicious, moist, creamy and so CHEESY! I'm led to understand that the mustard apparently brings out the cheese flavour more.

 

[One More Solo]

I've always found mac and cheese a pretty underwhelming dish, and although my OH was happy with the modernist version I thought it tasted a bit like Dairylea. I remelted the leftover "sauce" the next night and added a couple of teaspoons of dijon mustard, cayenne pepper and topped it with gherkins and jalapenos which was a massive improvement (the mustard mainly).

I can't fault how easy the sodium citrate makes it but getting the right blend of cheese seems important.